Robots/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby Moby holds two toy robots in his hands, then bumps their heads together. Tim reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, what are robots? From, Jac. MOBY: Beep. TIM: That's right, Moby. You're a robot. But you're one of a kind. And by today's standards of robots, you're pretty, sophisticated. For lack of a better name. Moby frowns at Tim. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Nothing, nothing. Most robots today may not be as exciting as the walking, talking, mechanical people you see in science fiction, but they're still pretty cool. Images show a round, robotic vacuum cleaner, a welding robot, and a human-shaped robot. TIM: Simply put, a robot is a mechanical device controlled by a computer. MOBY: Beep. TIM: I guess they could be your friends, but usually robots don't have much of a personality. Take this guy. Industrial robots like him are used in factories. They can carry out precision tasks, over and over, without getting tired or bored. An animation shows a robot welding cars on an assembly line. TIM: And while our arms have only three joints, a robot arm might have ten. An image shows a man's arm with its joints highlighted at the wrist, elbow, and shoulder. A robotic arm appears with many more joints highlighted. TIM: A robot arm might also have a full 360 degrees of rotation. An image shows a robot's arm. An arrow illustrates that the arm can turn 360 degrees around. TIM: This is a welding robot. When humans weld metal, they have to wear all sorts of protective gear to prevent accidents. They have to be extremely precise and their work usually takes a while. Side by side images show the entire robot welding a piece of metal, and a human welder wearing a protective mask and gloves. TIM: Robots can do it faster and just as well, without all the danger. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, most robots have computers for brains. That means everything they do is pre-programmed. So while industrial robots are great at the jobs they're programmed for, they can't really do anything else. They're pretty inflexible. An animation shows a robot in an assembly line, welding cars. The same robot tries to weld a sofa and the sofa catches on fire. TIM: And some robots don't even have brains at all! They're known as remote robots, or puppet robots, and they're commonly used to explore places we can't go. This guy is called Canadarm2, and it's part of the International Space Station. The arm is 60 feet long, can lift more than 100 tons, and even has a special hand attachment for precision work. Since both ends have grasping tools, Canadarm isn't anchored in place. It can move all around the outside of the space station, kind of like an inchworm! An animation shows Canadarm2. It is a mechanical arm attached to the bottom of the space station. It has an attachment that is called a hand which has metal links and lights on it. The arm is shown moving about. TIM: All of its movements have to be controlled by astronauts inside the station. An image shows an astronaut controlling the robotic arm. She uses controllers and computer monitors to control the arm. MOBY: Beep. TIM: That's true, researchers are working on artificial intelligence (AI), or learning computers. If computers can learn the way people do, they'll be able to do new things without special programming! Kismet is an early attempt at such a machine. She's programmed to learn by observing people, kind of like how babies learn from their parents. An animation shows Kismet. Her face has eyes, eyebrows, ears, lips, and teeth that resemble a human face and can also move around. TIM: She can pick up new facial expressions and tones of voice that weren't programmed into her! The robot looks down and then up, making different faces. TIM: And this guy's name is Pino, after Pinocchio. He actually taught himself to walk through trial and error! An image shows Pino taking a step forward. He looks like a person wearing a spacesuit. He has boards under his feet and a cord attached to his back. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, I guess these guys could be your friends. But Pino lives in Japan, and Kismet lives in a museum. Moby looks disappointed. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Don't worry, there are dozens of other types of robots. Some of them are simple, like our robotic vacuum cleaner. It feels its way along by bumping into things, but sensors help it avoid stairs and other drop-offs. An animation shows a round, robotic vacuum cleaner moving about and cleaning a floor. TIM: Other robots are incredibly complex, like this unmanned aircraft, or drone. It may look like a plane, but it doesn't have a pilot! An animation shows a drone aircraft. TIM: Sometimes drones are controlled remotely, by people. And sometimes, they're programmed to carry out complicated missions with little human involvement. They can fly over a forest fire to let us know how fast it's moving and where it's headed. They can be equipped with sensors that detect precious minerals, as well as oil and gas, in the ground below. And the military uses drones to spy on enemy forces and deliver bombs. Images show drones flying over a forest fire, oil platforms, and a line of army tanks. MOBY: Beep TIM: Yep, we're at the dawn of a whole new era of robotics! Robotic engineers are working on microscopic machines called nanorobots. These machines will be constructed from individual molecules, and measure less than a millionth of a meter across. An image shows a pin. At its point, a popup shows molecule-like structures called nanorobots. TIM: Nanobots might help us deal with diseases and other problems. They could travel through the bloodstream, detecting and killer cancer cells without damaging healthy tissues. An animation shows nanobots shaped like tubes with feet. They are inside the bloodstream, zapping out bad cells while not touching healthy cells. TIM: Or, engineers could make little traps that clean up pollution at the microscopic level. An animation shows spherical nanobots traveling in air. They open like mouths and eat harmful particles. TIM: Nanobots might be made to swarm over buildings and fix tiny cracks before they grow bigger. An animation shows dome-shaped nanobots with small legs. They crawl around and light up when they find cracks on surfaces. A different kind of nanobot appears and fixes the crack. MOBY: Beep. TIM: No, all that is still a pretty long way off: a decade or two at the very least. Oh, oh... what time is it? My forehead is covered with ice. Moby puts his face back on. Tim's voice turns robotic. TIM: May I use your restroom? If I could be any type of dog, I'd be a goat. Moby giggles. Tim starts to sing. His voice sounds like a malfunctioning robot. TIM: I'll be seeing you in all the old familiar places... Moby presses Tim's back. Tim’s voice slows down and dies out on the last words. There is a clicking sound. Moby pulls Tim's face off revealing he's a robot with a computer circuit in his brain and a speaker for a mouth. Moby looks pleased with himself. The real Tim is heard calling Moby from a distance. TIM: Moby? Have you seen that letter around here? I think it is about robots or something. MOBY: Beep. TIM: No? Alright, I'll keep looking. Tim wanders off. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts